Work place health and safety top priority

By admin on August 31, 2016

TigerTurf construction and installation teams in Australia and New Zealand are on top of health and safety regulations. The safety of our staff, clients and the public has always been top of our priorities in assessing sites and establishing safe operating procedures for each project.

TigerTurf has completed a far reaching audit to better define worksite safety procedures and processes. Ross Galloway, Operation Manager at TigerTurf NZ, says: “Previously we were sure we were operating safely; since having conducted comprehensive audits of our processes and checked our Standard Operating Procedures, now we know we are.”

Safety Procedures at Schools, Kindergartens and Early Childhood Centres

It’s always our overriding concern to keep students, staff and parents safe when we are working on school and preschool grounds. We understand the natural curiosity that leads children to gather around worksites.

When we are installing an exciting new turf court or playground, it’s not surprising that students and staff are curious about what is going on. They have been looking forward to, fund raising for and, often, writing about the project in class work, so all our teams are watchful and mindful regarding the safety of our young fans.

• During the initial site assessment, we complete a comprehensive site evaluation and identification of general and site specific risks and hazards.

• In discussions with the school representative, we plan for safety by deciding who will be responsible for each aspect of safety, and by defining safe viewing areas.

• We establish safe entrance and exit points we can use, and the best time for bringing large machinery, vehicles and loads onto the site.

• The site is fenced off and signage identifying risks and hazards are placed at entrances and around the site. View the build and installation of TigerTurf at St Johns Primary School while school is fully operational.

• Every person visiting a TigerTurf worksite, including subcontractors and clients, must sign in and be inducted to the site. We point out the dangers on-site, and the assembly points in case of alarms.

Safe Management of Installations in Sports Clubs and Retirement Villages

The safety of our own staff and of our clients and the public is our paramount concern, next to the quality of our work.

• TigerTurf staff are well known for their excellent communication with our clients, who appreciate being informed of our work plans for each day, and of particular hazards that may occur during the installation process.

• On our worksites, the project manager outlines the tasks for the day at morning toolbox meetings, and the hazards to look out for, including ditches, trenches, truck movements and unknown underground services. Every team member knows he or she is a critical part of the safety of everyone on-site and takes that responsibility seriously.

• Our sites are cordoned off to make sure Club Members or Village Residents do not wander on to the site to question or chat to our teams as they work, as much as we enjoy meeting them.

• During meal breaks, we often discuss progress with spectators, and explain what is going on.

• If coming onto the site, people must wear the appropriate personal protection equipment such as hi-viz jackets, steel capped boots and safety helmets (if appropriate).

Understanding Safety Requirements when Working on “Difficult to Access” Sites

There are many sites were access if often the biggest safety challenge.

Many of the sites on which we’ve built tennis courts and multi-sport courts have had only restricted access for our materials and equipment. Often courts are behind houses, up narrow stairs or pathways, behind walls, down steep banks, on roofs, even over counter balanced platforms.

Bringing the materials on-site and removing from site can be a challenging exercise. Recently, TigerTurf has undertaken several roof-top installations of lawns, golf putting greens, tennis courts and landscape gardens. These are enormously popular as space in our cities becomes limited. These projects have been successful in creating attractive settings in previously unused areas, which are now appreciated and used by residents in apartments and staff in workplaces.

• Often cranes, hi-abs, fork hoists, conveyor belts and other machinery are required to move bulky and heavy materials into place. Sometimes we must resort to plain old-fashioned man power.

• We use cranes to lift materials and equipment onto these rooftop sites, and these operations demonstrate our care and attention to the safety of our crews, the public and the clients.

• Council approvals and traffic planning are often required when projects encroach on public space and safety. Understanding legal requirements and consents is critical to ensure all risks and hazards are identified and managed correctly.

• Precautions required when working within public spaces includes:

Mindfulness of other parties that may be working in the proximity

Limitations of traffic movements for deliveries

Awareness and lessening of potential noise issues caused during construction

After decades of experience in overcoming most obstacles, our safety protocols are well tried and tested. TigerTurf’s teams are well used to resolving these problems of accessibility, with our prime consideration being the safety aspect for staff and clients. We know what can be managed safely and how to achieve that.

Managing Risks and Shared Responsibility for Safety is Integral part of TigerTurf Worksite Practice

At TigerTurf everyone in the workplace is responsible for worksite health and safety.

• All installation staff members are undergoing an intensive process of training from first aid through to the use of all our machinery and the processes followed to complete the various tasks. Applying this “safety net”, or shared responsibility for safety, is far more effective than the previous “ladder of responsibility” that dominated safety regulations in the past.

• On our worksites, the project manager outlines the tasks for the day at morning toolbox meetings, and the hazards to look out for, including ditches, trenches, truck movements and unknown underground services. Every team member knows he or she is a critical part of the safety of everyone on-site and takes that responsibility seriously.

• The main focus of keeping people safe has moved from spotting the hazards to managing the critical risks posed by such hazards. We concentrate on how we carry out our work, rather than simply assessing the site for its inherent dangers and for hazards posed by equipment and processes.

• Every person visiting a TigerTurf worksite, including subcontractors and clients, must be inducted to the site. And each person on-site must wear appropriate Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) gear.

So don’t be surprised if you are issued with a safety helmet and steel capped boots before entering a TigerTurf installation site. You’ll be in good hands and, above all, kept safe while our TigerTurf team is installing your sports turf.

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TigerTurf manufactures and installs high quality products for a range of sports, leisure and landscape applications.

We are committed to providing expert knowledge and advice on synthetic turf products and systems, along with exceptional customer service before, during and after your purchase.